


Behind The Scenes of 'The Crown of Ghosts'

by mistynebula



Series: Mistynebula's Continuation of HOO [2]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Apollo shouldnt drive, CPR, Coming Out, Drowning, F/M, Leo getting into trouble, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-26
Updated: 2015-07-15
Packaged: 2018-04-06 07:17:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,193
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4212849
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mistynebula/pseuds/mistynebula
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Parts you didn't see in the story, but parts i had written in my head. Most chapters will probably be very short, as they're only companion pieces :) </p><p>read The Crown Of Ghosts first http://archiveofourown.org/works/3860416?view_full_work=true</p><p>for e_cat, who's been following me from the start c:</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Companion to Chapter 4

**Author's Note:**

  * For [e_cat](https://archiveofourown.org/users/e_cat/gifts).



> All characters belong to Rick Riordan. I do not own anything other than the original characters/places/situations I come up with.

_**BBRRIIIINNGGGG!**_  
  
Students from Clarion Ladies Academy file out of the school, their hands holding their skirts down as the cold New Hampshire wind rips through the campus. Rachel Elizabeth Dare pulls a colored scarf from her bag and ties her hair back with it, and heads down the two-hundred some stairs to the parking lot. Her dad was supposed to send someone to pick her up, but he texted her during English that Howard might not make it.   
  
"Oh my god!" someone yells down the hill.   
  
Rachel takes off running. Sure, she's not a demigod but she threw a hairbrush at the Titan Lord Kronos, she can handle whatever this is. She reaches the lot in record time and sees all the girls looking up into the cloudy sky. Rachel walks up next to Michelle, a preppy girl with blonde hair and a bubble gum voice.   
  
"What's going on, Michelle?"  
  
"Ohmygod there was like, this _t_ _hing_ in the sky and I thought it was gonna like, hurdle towards Earth and kill us all," she says with a smack of her gum.   
  
Rachel looks up and sees nothing except the vapor trail from a plane among all the heavy clouds.   
  
"Where did it go?"   
  
"I dunno. It's gone now though so it's probably like, nothing."  
  
Rachel isn't too sure, and looks up again to check. She's just about to start looking for her ride when a bright streak flies across the sky, parting the clouds like Judy walking down the hall when she bet she could go a week without showering.  
  
"OMG, Rochelle there it is!"  
  
"It's Rachel," Rachel corrects. She figures it's a lost cause anyway.   
  
The ball of fire clears the sky and soon there are no clouds at all. And Michelle was right, it  _does_ look like it's going to hurdle towards Earth. Student's start screaming and running for cover as the meteor or something heads straight for the parking lot. Rachel grabs Michelle and dives, pulling them behind a stretch limo.  
  
_**CRASH!**_  
  
Rachel covers her head with her arms as it makes impact, and the earth shakes under her from the force. She looks up when everyone stops screaming and sees all the trees have caught fire, and in the middle of the cracked cement is a bright yellow sports car. A Super-Bro in a sky blue tank top, beige khaki shorts and sandles steps out of the car, slides his sunglasses from his nose to behind his ears, winks at the closest girl and then cups his hands around his mouth and shouts-  
  
"Yo! Rachel Elizabeth Dare! Urgent... stuff!"  
  
Michelle whips her head around to look at her, and Rachel pulls her scarf down around her face.   
  
"Holy. Cannoli. Do you  _know_ that guy?" Michelle squeaks. "He's like,  _so hot._ "  
  
"Racccchhheeellll. It's importannttttt."  
  
Michelle pushes her out from behind the limo. "OMG if you don't go, I will!"  
  
Rachel stumbles out and Apollo turns to her and spreads his arms wide.   
  
"There you are! Sorry about your school," he says with a shrug and throws his arm around her shoulder. "So I've been sentenced to Camp Half-Blood for... well a long time. They're having a super big meeting right now and I think if we hurry we might make it in time for a prophecy, huh?"  
  
Rachel sighs, "It hasn't been working since Percy went missing and Zeus closed off all mortal-godly contact. You know that."  
  
Apollo leans on the roof of the car and looks across it at her. "You never know, Red. Now get in, we got traffic to avoid."  
  
He puts his sunglasses back on he bridge of his nose and Rachel opens the door.   
  
"What traffic? This is the sun chariot."   
  
"All sorts of things have been happening. Maybe you can spill a little taste about what the ride is gonna be like?" he asks with an expectant smile.   
  
Rachel sits quietly and buckles her seat belt, not saying anything. Apollo shrugs and turns on the engine, and then looks out the window to wave-smile-wink at some of Rachel's classmates. He drives forward to go out of the lot, and rams straight into someones car.   
  
"Oh my gods, do you even have a licence?"  
  
"A what?" 


	2. Companion to Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is mostly dialogue but there's not much one can do when locked in a room in the underworld so i feel i am excused

"Well he's grounded until his father gets home," Persephone says and stops in front of a silver door.

Nico groans, " _I'm_ dramatic?" She opens the doors and pulls Nico to his feet.

"Just play along," she whispers to him and she guides him inside and closes the door, and Nico kicks at it from the other side. From the other side he can hear scuffling and then-

"No," Hazel says. "You can't ground-" Persephone takes her by the arm and opens Nico's door again. "Now you listen here!" Hazel protests, but she closes the door on any further arguments.

Hazel huffs and sits down against the door, and Nico follows, his jean chains sliding against the metal.

"Ugh. UGH!" Hazel groans.

Nico looks around and find them in a bedroom. The walls are black stone (obviously) and the bed has blood red bedding like in Cabin 13. Theres some wooden furniture like a dresser and a vanity, and two side tables. There's no personal touch in the room, so Nico can't tell if this is actually someones room. He can't think of a reason why someone would need a nap in the underworld.

Nico turns back to Hazel when he hears her crying quietly.

"Hazel?" he asks and puts his arms around her shoulders.

She leans into him, "I'm doing terrible leading this quest. I got locked in a bedroom for Hades sake."

Nico rubs circles on her back, "No no, you're doing great. There's no one else I'd rather have lead my first quest."

"Aww thanks, Nico." She wipes her eyes and nose on her sleeve. "I miss Frank."

Nico nods, "He's nice. He's good for you."

Hazel smiles, "You think so?"

Nico laughs. "Of course. That kids bestotted."

She smiles and they sit in silence for a while, and then-

"What about you?"

Nico's heart thumps in his chest. "Er... what about me?"

"Are there any girls you have your eye on at camp?"

Nico pulls his arms fron her shoulders and folds his hands in his lap. He feels his cheeks heating against his will. Always against his will.

"Oh my gods, there is isn't there?!" Nico drops his head against the door. "I heard a little rumor about Anna-"

"It's _not_ Annabeth," he growls.

"Well who is she?" she asks, putting her hands over his.

"There is no she," he says, wiping his forehead. Nico feels it's suddenly really hot in this tiny room.

"Nico what's wrong? I was just teasing you, I'm sorry."

"You're fine. Its not you, it's me."

"What does that mean?"

Nico groans, "Ugh, I don't know."

"Is there something on your mind?"

"Yeah," he starts. "What if..."

"Hm?"

"What if it's not a... a _girl?"_

"What do you- Oh," Hazel says.

"Forget it. Forget I said anything. I'm gonna take a nap," Nico says and gets up to make way for the bed.

Hazel grabs him by the jean chains and pulls him back down. "Nico di Angelo, _sit down."_

Nico does so that Hazel doesn't end up pulling his pants down.

"Nico, I don't care. You're still my brother," she says and tackles him with a hug. "I never thought I'd have a brother, or friends, or a boyfriend. And now I have all these wonderful people in my life, so why would I shut them out for something so _stupid_ like who they love?"

"Um," Nico says eloquently. 

She pulls away to take his face in her hands. "When I grew up people who loved like you weren't very popular and neither was I for the color of my skin. I hated how I was treated and I'd never do it to anyone."

Nico's eyes water and Hazel wipes his cheeks. "That's really nice of you, Hazel. For me, it's always been another thing to set me apart."

"Well we've got a bunch of friends who love us," she hugs him again. "And I don't think telling them will change how they feel."

"Thanks, Hazel."

"No problem. So who is he?"

"Oh my gods-" Nico starts, but is interupted by someone pounding on the door.

Will's voice calls from the other side of the door. "Nico, Hazel! We're-"

An alarm sounds through the palace, and a teenier alarm beeps from the other side of the wall. Saved by the bell (haha).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this was always my plan for what they talked about here, but i just really wanted to write it in light of todays events :) #lovewins


	3. Companion to Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _"Oh my gods, Leo! Are you okay?"_
> 
>  
> 
> _"Just golden, babe. Not my first time in the slammer," he says, and decides not to mention that time with the rooster in Georgia._

Leo drops his bag down at the base of a tree and collapses. He must've walked a thousand miles today. Quite a feat (haha feet? World play? Alright fine.) for an eleven year old. He just couldn't stay in that foster home anymore.

He opens the (stolen) backpack and looks to see what he got (stole). He finds a t-shirt, and a pair of shoes he hopes with all his strength are his size. He looks down at his shoes, if you could still call them that, and sees the seams busting and the sole of one held onto the rest of the shoe with duct tape.

He quickly kicks off the ruined sneakers and puts the new ones on. They're a little big, but he'll grow into them. He looks through the rest and finds a few Tasty Cakes, a Georgia Peach key chain, a bar of soap (score!), and a grape Gatorade. He unscrews the cap and chugs most of it down, and then leans against the tree to catch his breath.

He's just about to fall asleep when he hears a clucking noise. Thinking he's finally lost it, he opens his eyes to see a rooster walking around in front of him.

"What in God's name is a rooster doing in the woods bothering me?"

The rooster clucks unhelpfully.

"Well go away, I'm trying to sleep," he says and rolls over, putting his head on the bag.

He feels a tiny pinch on his ankle and he kicks randomly without opening his eyes. The pinching continues and the clucking gets louder until Leo is forced to open his eyes, getting a view full of rooster.

"Gah!" Leo shouts, and sits up to scoot away from it. "Yo, I don't know what your deal is, rooster, but BEAT IT!"

The rooster hops over to his new shoe lace and pulls it untied.

"Now you're just being mean."

The rooster pulls it again, and then races off in one direction, clucking madly.

"Good riddance."

The rooster turns around and races back, pulls at his shoe lace, and then races off again, much to Leo's annoyance.

"Okay," Leo says, shouldering his bag. "The rooster wants me to follow him, not weird at all."

Leo heads down after the rooster, who's calmed down now that Leo has complied with him.

"Um, I'm Leo," he says, feeling the need to fill the silence.

The rooster says nothing, of course.

"I think I'll call you Gus," Leo says with a nod.

Gus doesn't scratch his ankles to shreds, so Leo guesses that's okay with him. Gus and Leo walk into the woods for a while, Leo sleepily nodding off as they walk. _Sleeping and walking takes serious talent,_ Leo thinks.

He's forced to open his eyes when Gus bites at his ankle and clucks wildly. He looks up and sees a _giant_ , no really, _giant_ birds nest. The size of an actual house. But that's not the best part, no, that's the giant red and orange hen sitting in the middle of it.

"Um, is this an episode of Dora?"

Gus squawks and scurries off to the edge of the nest. Leo heads to the nest, too, against his better judgement. He pulls his bag around and pulls out and unwraps a Twinkie.

Holding it up to the hen, he says "I come in peace, Big Red Chicken."

" ** _SQQQUUUUAAAAWWWWWKKKKK_** ," she yells, and her beak comes down to devour the treat.

Leo screams and throws it into the air to save his hand/arm, and she snaps it right out of the air. Gus peeps beside him happily.

"So, Gus, is this your mom?"

Gus rudely doesn't respond , and begins climbing the nest twigs in a combination of flaps, talons, and his beak.

"Alright," Leo says, and climbs too.

When they reach the top of the twigs, Gus patters over to a cluster of giant white eggs.

"Ohh, this is your lady, Gus. Don't tell me how that worked, I don't want to know."

Leo walks over to the eggs, stepping around giant red feathers, and stops when he smells it.

"Oh god," he yells, and pulls his shirt up yo cover his face. "It smells like rotten eggs!"

Gus clucks sadly and Leo frowns, "Aww man, are they late?"

Gus runs around in circles and Mama Hen bends down to peck at one of the eggs, but clearly she's too scared to crack them herself.

"Um, I'll do it, if you want."

Mama Hen screams, picks up a rock from outside the nest with her beak, and then drops it for Leo. Unfortunately she drops it like, thirty feet in the air so Leo has to dive to avoid getting crushed. His arms get scratched up and splintered but he gets up and lifts up the stone.

"Kay, here goes," Leo says, and smashes the rock into the egg shell, careful not to go too far in and hit the chick.

The egg shell shatters and a wet baby giant chicken tumbles out, looking, well, really gross. But the hen screams with joy and Gus tries to peck at the other egg to help the chick out.

"I got it, Gus, stand back," Leo says and smashes the shell in.

Another baby chick crawls out, and the two of them tower over Leo by at least six feet. They're both slimy and smelly and completely ugly.

"Okay, there you go, Gus. I'll be on my way now," he says, his eyelids already closing.

The hen screeches angrily and Leo screams back, and the hen bends over the edge of the nest.

 _Christ, she's going to drop a giant rock on me,_ Leo thinks and dives between the chicks cuz surely she wouldn't drop a rock on her kids. But when the hen turns back she drops a beakful of water on the chicks, and subsequently Leo. Dripping wet and cursing, Leo looks down at his soggy shoes.

"Dude! Those were brand new!"

The chicks stand on either side of him in puddles of slime and egg fluid, dripping wet but now perfectly clean. Gus runs around happily, flapping his wings. Leo's about to give up and find a place to nap when the hen screams again, and Leo gets a face full of chicken breath. Leo coughs and gags and opens his eyes to see two fluffy red chicks, clean and dry.

"Lovely," Leo says, "now I'll be on my way. Gus, nice meeting you."

Leo heads to the edge of the nest and hops down, picks his bag off the floor, and starts walking to get far away from here to take a nap. He's walked maybe ten feet when a large thump shakes the earth and throws him to the ground. He's picking twigs out of his hands when he feels himself lifted into the air.

"AHHHHHH!"

He looks down and _oh, that wasn't a good idea_ because he's upwards of thirty feet up and racing past trees. But when he looks down he sees Gus hauling ass in the same direction.

 _Oh God, please not this,_ Leo thinks and looks up. And sure enough the back of his ripped shirt is between the beak of Mama Hen. She's quiet, and for that Leo is grateful. He already took a mega blast of her breath, he doesn't want it up close with a zillion decibels of CLUCK.

But he does hear peeping, and looks down again to see the two chicks, fluffy and dry, following their mama.

"Gus, what the heck is this? Let me down! But like, from a safe distance from the ground."

Gus crows, and then Mama Hen bursts through the edge of the trees, completely negating all of the walking Leo did today. They emerge over a small town. Rows of houses that all look the same on either side of a road. There's two squares with gas stations and restaurants, and tiny ant people out for walks.

"Gus, tell your wife that this is not a good idea," Leo says.

He reaches around to find something to grab on to but he can't reach her feathers. The hen starts running again, and Leo winces every time he thinks her foot is coming down on a house. She mostly stays to streets, with the occasional backyard, but the chicks are another story. They run up to people and bite them, and smash windows, and knock down lampposts.

"Stop, stop! No! Chick 1, not the playgroun- Gus,  _control your children!"_

Gus just clucks around happily, eating the cheerios from someone's groceries that they dropped as they ran in terror. The family of giant birds (and Gus) all make their way to the local market, where they all rip open fruits and giant bags of bird seed. Mama Hen eyes up the seeds and Leo curls into a ball, expecting her to drop him at any second, when-

"Hey, Feather Face!"

Leo opens his eyes and sees four kids coming out of the supermarket, and are those _swords?_ One of the guys has a giant super soaker, which Leo doesn't think will stop the chickens.

The hen turns to the sound of the voice, and clucks loudly, subsequently dropping Leo from her beak. He screams on the way down, and it shot out of the air. When he opens his eyes again he's in a golden net, and doesn't have a scratch on him.

One of the girls hefts up her sword, and yells "John, you get the chicks, the rest of us will take the hen!"

The guy with the super soaker cuts the end of Leo's net off of it and heads off after the chicks, and the rest of the group split up and surround the hen.

"No, you guys! She didn't mean it, she's just feeding her kids!" Leo yells.

He looks around for Gus, and finds him hiding under one if the fruit stands. One of the girls breaks away from the group that's moving the hen away from the food stands, and kneels next to Leo to untangle his net. She's Asian, her black hair is cut in a short bob.

"How old are you, kid?" she asks.

"Eleven. What's going on? Are they gonna hurt that hen?"

The girl works on untangling the knot in the net, "That isn't a normal, hen."

"Well yeah, it's like a million feet tall but, they doesn't mean you have to kill it."

She looks up from the golden mesh in her hands to stare at him in shock.

"What? Is there something on my face?"

"You can see it? The hen?"

"Kind of hard to miss, don't you think?"

She turns back to the net, but with extra vigor. And Leo turns around to see John has net both the chicks and joined the group on the hen. John shoots a net around the hens feet and she trips and falls like an old oak with a loud squawk.

Sirens sound down the street, and Leo sees a few cop cars turning onto the road. The four kids panic, and Leo would too if he wasn't in a stupid net. The other girl in the group comes and grabs the one that was attending to his net, pulling her away.

"Taylor, leave him! The police will take care of it, we gotta go!"

"No! I think he's one of us."

"He's just a kid, he's got time. Let him enjoy it."

The police pull into the market and Taylor offers no more arguments. The four of them take off, leaving Leo and three chickens tied up in nets. Gus grows quiet under the apple stand, and the officers hurry out of their cars, and run to the chickens and Leo.

"Alright kid, that was a risky stunt you pulled. Very funny," an officer says. He pulls his knife out and cuts the net open, and then pulls Leo out by the wrists.

"Um, it wasn't _my_ fault, but thanks. I'll just be on my way-"

The officer catches his wrist again and pulls him back, "Not so fast. You're under arrest for destruction of property."

"What? I'm eleven!"

"Well then maybe we'll shake it out of you early by a nice call to your mother."

Leo's heart drops into his stomach, and his fingers tingle with heat. He clenches his fists, _no, you swore you'd never do that again._

"I don't have one," Leo challenges.

He knows this is just going to get him thrown into another foster home, but he's so tired and he really wants a nap. Besides, running away has always been second nature, he can do it again.

"Well then you're coming with me. You'll be getting a record, and one more major slip up like this and you'll be put into one of those correction schools for troubled kids." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i sort of got in a lot of trouble writing this at work so let me know if it was worth it XD
> 
> i wont have as much time to write now due to a recent promotion c: but ill still write


	4. Companion to Chapter 18

"Are we going to surface soon?" Piper asks.  
  
Hazel shakes her head. "We're pretty deep."  
  
Piper sighs and drops her head onto Jason's shoulder. Will resists the urge to take one of Nico's hands.  
  
They've been following Nico for a while when the brick floor suddenly stops, and Nico falls and lands in a deep pool of water with a splash. Piper's hand quickly shoots out out and grabs Hazel by the shirt before she can fall in, too.  
  
"Nico?" Will calls.  
  
Nico surfaces, looking annoyed.  
  
"Aww, now these shoes are ruined," he pouts.  
  
Will smiles and rolls his eyes and crouches down to extend him a hand. Nico half smiles and reaches a pale hand up to take it, and then he's just gone. His head goes back under again with a splash like something out of _Jaws._

"Nico!" Will screams over the startled sounds of the group.

The water becomes choppy, like Nico is thrashing below the surface. Will stands, preparing to jump in, when Jason puts a hand on his chest to stop him.

"Will, don't go in there," he says.

"What?! You want me to let him drown?!"

"No, of course not!"

Six little bubbles appear on the surface, and Will rips his shoes off to jump in after him. Jason grabs him by the arms and slams him into the wall.

"Will! Stop and think for a second! You've got ninety pounds of armour on, can you keep it afloat?"

Will pulls his hands through his hair, and turns back to the water. Eight more bubbles surface, this time significantly larger. He feels tears sting his eyes, and Hazel kneels and grasps the ledge peering into the water.

Piper grabs Jason's arm, "Jason, go after him!"

Jason nods and jumps in without a second thought. The water stills and the three of them are left on the ledge with bated breath. When Jason resurfaces Will only hears one pair of lungs gasping for breath. Nico is held up with Jason's arm around his waist, his head lolled onto his shoulder.

Hazel sobs and reaches out, and Jason passes him up to them. While Will lays Nico on his back the girls pull Jason out. Nico's hair is wet against his forehead,  and his lips have lost their rosey pink. Will touches his cheek and finds it cold.

He feels a shift in himself and goes into doctor mode. He presses his hands on top of each other in the center of Nico's chest and pushes. Hazel comes next to him and takes Nico's hand, and Will stops to take Nico's pulse. His hand rests on Nico's wrist next to Hazel's and he feels a faint flutter of life in that little hand. He goes back to pushing on Nico's chest, watching his face for any sign of life.

"Gods," Piper whispers, taking Jason's hand and pressing her face into his chest.

"He' be fine," Will says sternly.

Push. Push. _He'll be fine._ Harder push.

Although it's taught against, he's about to do mouth to mouth out of sheer disparity, when a cough startles the silence and two lungs full of water dribble out of those lips.

 _Thank the gods,_ he thinks, resisting the urge to wrap the boy up in a hug.

"Holy shit," Jason says.


	5. Not A Chapter, Just Visual Aids

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i wanted to post these, but i didnt wanna do it on the actual story cuz i didnt wanna mess up the flow, ya know? so heres some visual aidsss

  
  
Lady Niagara. I made her on AzaleasDolls.com when i was bored to hopefully inspire me to do something with that day. It did not.   
  
  
  
The Crown of Ghosts. I love picturing nico wearing this, looking all regal (image from google)  
  
  
  
Tucker when he 'Hulks-out' as Leo would say. For normal tucker, imagine a smaller, cuter version :) (image from google)  
  
  
  
lil jane c: (image from google) 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> kind of unsure about posting this bc idk if anyone actually cares lol, but here it is

**Author's Note:**

> tumblr: mistynebula  
> twitter: themistynebula  
> snapchat: mistynebula
> 
> u can find me on almost everything with that, i make it pretty easy :)


End file.
